37 The Culprit

"There are many things I wanted to ask you about." I changed the topic with a serious gaze.

"I'll answer what I can." Sapphire felt the tension in my voice and responded seriously in kind.

"Do you know of any Skill Holders with a mind-control Skill Root?" I continued with a question that weighed on my mind. There's no way I had forgotten about that strange individual that restricted my memories and thoughts. I need to find out more about this certain Skill and how to counter it!

"A 'mind-control' Skill Root?" She muttered while tapping her finger on her forehead, unable to come up with an answer immediately. Her eyes wondered a little as she seemed to be looking through her memories for information regarding such things.

"I don't have any information regarding such rare Skill Roots. It's not like such a Skill Holder would advertise his mind-influencing Skill..." She continued while shaking her head.

"A 'rare' Skill Root?" I asked with curiosity. It's not like I haven't heard anything about Skill Roots from my parents. From how they spoke of Skill Holders, it was as if they were beings on an entirely different scale from regular human beings. Even the weakest of Skill Holder would be able to fight evenly with a strong Swordsman teamed up with a Mage.

Seriously... it looks like even Enigma wasn't aware that the Human Race and Beast Race were able to come up with techniques that could change their physiology on their own. If he did, he would have added it in the explanation he gave me about Mana Attributes, and wouldn't have praised the special Eclipse Attribute he gifted to such a degree.

Ah... I let my mind wander by accident and forgot to get back to the main point. For this type of Skill Root to be rare was within my expectations. If there really were so many users of such an ability, the world would be in chaos! No nation would be safe...

However, my curiosity was picked towards how the Young Miss' had such deep knowledge regarding Skill Holders... I've heard only high-ranking nobles with great achievements towards the Drakeyol Kingdom's Royal Family could had access to in-depth knowledge passed through books!

"Indeed. The amount of Skill Roots in the world that can affect the body only appear in extremely special cases when it comes to how Skills are formed." She nodded with intelligent eyes. Her faint smile of intelligence seemed to predict my next question.

"And why is that exactly?" I once again asked without holding anything back.

"Well..." Even though she already expected what I would ask, the answer for such a deep question wasn't as simple as it sounded. She opened a book that was placed on the table beforehand then showed me certain illustrations recorded within.

"Let me simplify it a little. As you already know, the Light Mana of a human's Mana Flame tends to transform into many other kind of 'energies' when released into the world around its user. It's the reason ancient Humans known as 'Druids' in the past were able to change the laws of nature merely by using their strong willpower." She explained while pointing at an illustration of a 'Druid' that was using magic to control the natural forces. The book's illustration of Druids seemed different from the ones I'd met when I first arrived at this world considering they looked far more beautiful they actually were.

I understood the part of her explanation regarding the transformations of Light Mana quite well. It wasn't that long ago that I morphed my Sun Mana into 'kinetic energy' within my muscles.

In fact, the Mana Affinities within my Elemental Marbles could also be counted as 'forms' of Light Mana could take. They're just like how the different Element Auras were when I used to use Aura Manifestation technique for augmentation purposes.

Ah... if only I had a bit higher Magical Talent back then... I wouldn't have been so easy to push around if I had merged the scientific knowledge I had and the Magical Talent of a normal person...

If I had been born with a higher Magical Talent at birth, then I wouldn't have given up becoming expert Magic Swordsman like Father did... After all, martial arts were the expertise for my new Skills.

Although existences like Skill Holders were praised as the main fighting force of humanity, the drawback of having less options when using magic is noticeable when trying to travel the world. This is especially true when some Skill Holders find they have zero survival skills because they aren't able to do things normal Mages do easily despite having Skill Roots. A Skill Holder of a particular Attribute wouldn't be able to mimic other elements at all.

For example: People of this world used fire magic to light campfires, but wind-type Skill Root users would find it impossible to transform the remaining Mana that wasn't used to form a Skill Root within their Mana Flames the same way a regular person could. This leading to Skill Holders being unable to light fires if they don't have a Fire or Light Attribute Skill Root, which can cause problems in real life.

This isn't the difference in talent towards Mana Control but more of a physiological issue that is unable to be overcome with sheer effort alone. A Skill Holder's Mana Flame is just unable to accept energy transformations incompatible with the Skill Root. It was almost like Skill Holders were locked to a specific Attribute and had a lot less options than regular people who could utilise their magic power.

This is why out of all types of Skill Roots, the most sought after kind were those of the Light Attribute humanity were all born with. Although in some cases Light Attribute Skill Holder were unable transform their magical energy like myself, most were able to bring out the best of Light Mana no problem.

"Then what about Healers? Don't they improve the body's regenerative abilities with their Spells? That can also be considered altering the body in some way, right?" I still held hope that I would find some lead to the one who messed with my memories.

"It may sound like Light Mana is omnipotent, but that conclusion is very, very wrong. A human's Light Mana can control the natural laws of reality, yet unfortunately, it is unable to properly affect animate beings since it leans more towards 'creation'. Even the greatest Healers of the Human Race don't control the human body and instead trigger phenomenons that are able to heal a person's physique. Almost like those who create medicine rather than 'controlling' the body of others.

Think of Healers as... those who create rain in order to nourish plants. That is the only comparison I can think of when describing how their magic words. A better example would be looking at the difference between Shadowlight Mana and Dark Mana.

The former didn't 'control' shadows but rather 'creates' shadows that can be wielded by the user in various ways. Shadow clones, fake limbs, blinding, afterimages, there are various things they can do BUT control the shadows around the user.

The latter on the other hand purely consisted of shadow manipulation and using the unique aspects of the Dark Attribute to alter the body. There is a reason Beasts who are naturally born with this Attribute are so physically superior to humans in every way even without Arts or Spells." The Young Miss couldn't help but shake her head helplessly. Her voice was apologetic since all she could do was act like the Skill Roots I thought of didn't exist.

"So it's like that..." I felt a sense of enlightenment after I hearing her words.

"Why are you looking for a 'mind control' Skill Root user anyway?"

"I suspect that there is someone within the mansion that can use this ability. I know it is impossible for normal Arts or Spells used by Mages to affect the mind, so the conclusion I came up with is that the culprit is a Skill Holder who has such an ability." I didn't hide my thoughts and confessed what I knew.

I didn't tell her I was once controlled by that Skill Holder though since all it would do is make her needlessly suspicious of me. She may even believe that I am just playing a prank on her.

"I don't know if a mind-control Skill Root user exists, but I'll trust you on this matter. There's no reason for you to lie to me about such a thing." She showed her faith and didn't pry too deeply.

"Thank you." I felt reassured by her words. Even if we had become good 'friends', our relationship isn't deep enough for her to completely give me her trust just yet. In her mind, there is a high chance that I was merely making a mountain out of a molehill.

"Don't even mention it. We are 'friends' now, right?" She winked in response.

"So how are you going to find that person? If there really is someone with a mind-control ability, it would be hard to find them if they don't want to be found. Do you have a plan?" Her eyes sharpened as she asked deeply.

"There's someone I suspect but I really don't want my speculation to be correct for once." I said with a forced smile. A strong emotion resonated in my heart as I really didn't want to believe my deduction to be correct for once. The person I believed to be the culprit isn't a 'normal' person.

"Don't worry about it. Even if that person has a powerful background or is part of some shady organisation. I will help you when you're in trouble!"

"Since when did you become my reliable older sister?" I hid the dark emotions in my heart and joked. There is no way I'm letting her get involved...

"Never mind all that. Just tell me who you suspect already." She blushed in embarrassment while changing the subject. She seemed adamant on getting an answer out of me regarding who I believed to be such a strong Skill Holder. She could probably tell from my tone that I really hated the mind-controller I talked about and looked like she wanted to help me out.

However, there's no way I could accept her proposal considering my current circumstances. I KNEW she wouldn't have the heart to attack that person...

"I'll tell you later, okay? For now, I want to once again confess what I feel to Sylphy again~" I made an excuse to change the subject to something else.

"Hmph! I try to help you, and you're here hiding things from me? Not only that, but you want to hit on my maid as well... Do you have no shame?" She snorted as a vein appeared on her forehead.

"Not that I know of." I feigned ignorance.

Sorry Sapphire... I'll definitely make it up to you in the future, so please forgive me for this.

"Fine... I'll help you out, but if she rejects you once again... then please do me a favour and stop chasing her skirt." She calmed her mind and gestured my sister to come with her. Merilin was confused on where she going but didn't reject her.

She stopped playing with Sylphy and ran to keep up with the Young Miss who was already halfway out the Training Grounds. The Personal Maid swiftly reacted as well and followed behind her but was stopped by me who blocked her path.

Sylphy wasn't dumb and noticed her master left in order to let us have some alone time with each other... A blush appeared on her cheek as she waited for me to initiate the conversation.

Ah... My feelings for her are too strong!

I don't know how to express them...

Oh! I know~! I'll just let my heart control my actions instead of thinking of how I could express myself! There is one thing I really want to do right now!

[Skill Overlay- Cognitive Drive!]

[Skill Overlay- Weightless Breath!]

[Main Skill- Heavenly Sword!]

The strong feeling of killing intent I had hidden deep in my heart bursted forth as I aimed to kill her in one blow singular blow of my actual Main Skill!

The Sun Mana within my Skill Root materialised into a white sword as I slashed forwards using all the strength I could muster from my entire body to slash down at her at a speed that surpassed human limits.

However, my almost perfect sneak attack that I hid between the motion of me standing and stepping forward was easily blocked by Sylphy's ordinary sword. She no longer had that weird expressionless yet bashful face she had before. Instead there was only surprise in her eyes as a sinister smile curved on her mouth. I felt disgusted by that strange look she gave! I wasn't that surprised that she was able to block though since the person who had the ability to control my mind wouldn't be so weak.

"It seems you have broken free, huh?"